


Five Things That Really, Truly Never Happened to the Hawke Twins

by anthologyofwhat (lea_hazel)



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: AU of an AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Circle of Magi, Deep Roads, Gen, Grey Wardens, Kirkwall, Qunari, Siblings, Templars, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 12:19:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/anthologyofwhat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five diverging scenarios for the Hawke twins, which fork out of an AU where the twins survive and the eldest Hawke doesn't. An AU within an AU, as it were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Things That Really, Truly Never Happened to the Hawke Twins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [owlmoose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlmoose/gifts).



> Written for a "what if?" prompt that asked for an AU of an ongoing fic. The "original" of this story isn't posted, or even finished, but a few hints of the "canon" timeline can be gleaned from this story.

**1.**

"You are basalit-an after all. Few in this city command such respect." 

Carver straightened and sheathed his sword, meeting the Arishok’s eyes defiantly. 

But the Arishok shook his head slowly. “Not you, bas.” He raised his arm and pointed. “Her.” 

Bethany could swear she felt all the blood running out of her face. “Me?” 

"Maraas toh ebra-shok," he said. "You alone are worthy." 

Carver leaned down to whisper in her ear, “You don’t have to do this. Between the four of us, we can take the lot of ‘em.” 

She nodded minutely and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll get us out of this.” 

With a flourish she remembered learning from her father, she unhooked the staff on her back and leveled it at the boulder of a man before her. “I accept your challenge.” 

**2.**

As they slogged through the endless dim, smelly tunnels looking for another quick fix for yet another sticky mess, Bethany couldn’t help but smile through the pain. “I told you so,” she rasped. “I told you the Deep Roads were a bad idea.” 

Carver snorted. “That you did. If we die before we meet the Wardens, you can tell Father and Marian all about it in the Beyond.” 

"I don’t know," said Bethany. "We might find the Wardens and they still won’t help us. Maybe we’ll die in this place together, just the same way we were born." 

"Shut up!" snapped Velanna. "I think I hear something." 

"Grey Wardens?" asked Carver, with impossible stabbing hope in his voice. 

"Or more Darkspawn," she said. "Get behind me. Neither of you is in any condition to fight." 

“ _Maker_ ,” said Bethany, hissing in pain. “I hope you’re right about this, Carver.” 

**3.**

"I’m telling you," said Bethany, tugging on his arm insistently, "it’s a bad idea.” 

Carver groaned. “Not this again. Bethany, I told you: we can make the money we need in three weeks! A month, at the most. When we come back to the surface we’ll have so much treasure on our hands you’ll be able to spit on every templar in Kirkwall and still not be arrested.” 

"You’re such an ass, Carver," said Bethany, hands on her hips. "That’s not what I meant and you know it. We could both die down there! Then what? What will happen to Mother? Do you really want to leave her with nothing but Gamlen for family?" 

"So what’s your brilliant plan, Sister?" said Carver. He only called her that when he was  _really_  mad. “Still talking about turning yourself in? That’s madness and you know it.” 

"Hear me out," said Bethany. "Just listen before you jump to any conclusions." 

Carver Hawke, the Fereldan refugee, had made himself a name as a mercenary with the Red Iron. Despite rumors about him rushing on some fool’s errand mission to plunder the Deep Roads on the tail of the Blight, he did the sensible thing and found himself a commission. Not in the city guard, as he had originally intended, but as a templar. A veteran of Ostagar, he was a stranger to Kirkwall and had no family in the city. When Hightown gossips chattered about the return of Leandra Amell, the noblewoman who had eloped with a nameless foreigner, they could not hope to tie his name to hers, or to her daughter Bethany Amell, who turned herself willingly into the Circle almost as soon as she set foot on Kirkwall’s docks. 

And if Ser Carver paid a visit to the refurbished Amell estate every now and then, well, he wouldn’t be the first templar to carry letters from a cloistered mage to her worried family. Nor will he be the last. 

**4.**

"We  _must_  get to Kirkwall!” Leandra was saying. 

Bethany fought the urge to cover her ears with her hands. “I don’t want to hear it, Mother.” 

"Your sister sacrificed everything to get us here," said her mother. 

"Marian didn’t die so that Bethany could be taken by templars," said Carver, laying a hand on her shoulder. 

"But what will we do in Gwaren?" asked Leandra. 

Bethany shrugged. “The same thing we did in Lothering,” she said. “Live.” 

"I saw a message posted on the Chanter’s Board," said Carver. "Gwaren’s garrison is hiring guards. So many of their men left to fight at Ostagar and never returned." 

"See, Mother?" said Bethany, desperation creeping into her voice. "Carver can be a guardsman. You can take in mending, like you used to when we were small. We  _don’t_  have to go to Kirkwall. We can survive right here.” 

Their mother sighed deeply. “I suppose you’re right, darling. I thought, if we got to Kirkwall, the money and title would protect you. But they won’t, will they?” 

"This is much safer," said Carver. "We’re out of reach of the Blight, finally. We managed to stay hidden in Lothering, and we’ll do the same here. Nothing can tear this family apart." 

**5.**

"Apostate! Keep your distance!" 

Carver snarled. “You will not take me alive!” 

She put her hand on his arm, tried to calm him down, but he only shook it off. 

"Let’s not be too rash," said Marian. "There’s still the Darkspawn to contend with." 

"The Order dictates—" he was sputtering as he spoke, and swaying on his feet. 

"Dear," said the red-haired stranger beside him, at the same time as Bethany spoke up. 

"Perhaps you can be convinced to postpone your hunt for illegal mages," she said, reaching for her bow. 

The stranger nodded. “We can hate each other when we’re safe from the horde.” 

Bethany met her eyes and nodded back, and cautiously withdrew her hand from her weapon. “I’m watching you,” she said softly to the templar as she passed by him on the route south. 

"And I, you." 


End file.
